Environment & Place

Topics & Concepts: Natural Environment, Ohlone Culture, Gold Rush, Hydraulic Mining, Hetch Hetchy, Sustainable, Indigenous, Commodification, Conservation, Degradation, Policy, Advocacy

Guiding Questions: 

• How do people shape the natural environment? 

• How does the natural environment shape our society?

• How should natural resources be used? 

Unit Sequence: 

• This unit starts with an exploration of the relationship between Native Californians and their environment. Through lectures and a reading jigsaw of The Ohlone Way, students learn about Ohlone culture and relationship to land and animals. Students read the introduction of the book Tending the Wild and respond to the argument it makes about how Native people in California actively shaped and cared for their environment. 

• In Week 2, students begin to explore how the colonization of California impacted the environment. The week begins with a lecture and discussion of the arguments made in the book Guns, Germs and Steel. Then students learn about the environmental impacts of the Gold Rush through image analysis. A reading titled the "Commodification of California" argues that the way Gold Rush immigrants viewed land and nature contributed to the extreme environmental degradation and exploitation of this period. 

• In Week 3, students explore the question of how the legal system impacted the environment in California. First they read about laws regulating hydraulic mining during the Gold Rush and learn about the beginning of the conservation movement. The rest of the week is dedicated to a Structured Academic Controversy about the Hetch Hetchy debate in the early 1900's about whether or not the O'Shaughnessy Dam should be permitted to be built. 

• In Weeks 4 and 5, students learn about the current water crisis in California, analyze sources and write a DBQ essay in response to the question: Has the use of water been in the best interest of California? 

• Beginning at the end of Week 5 and through Weeks 6 and 7, students work on an independent research project on a contemporary environmental issue of their choice. For their final assessment, students present a 2-5 minute speech about their issue that describes the issue in detail, identifies root causes and advocates for a solution to the problem. 

Notes on Materials Included: 

• The history unit on the natural environment described above was designed to be taught parallel to an English class unit on social environments in which students read Luis Rodriguez's Always Running: La Vida Loca, Gang Days in L.A. The folder linked above contains both the history class and English class materials, as well as a combined unit plan for both classes.

• Partner teachers Matthew Colley and Nicholas Rey created this unit alongside two other Oakland Tech partner teachers, Portia Carryer and Brenda Rivera. Here is a link to Carryer and Rivera's version of the unit, which includes several alternative assessments.